Wrestling
Wrestler Sumit Malik qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
Wrestler Sumit Malik earns qualification for Tokyo Olympics as he reaches the final of the World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers
Sumit Malik
Indian wrestler Sumit Malik qualifies for the Tokyo Olympics, as he reaches the final of the World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers in 125kg Freestyle wrestling category with 5-0 win over Jose Daniel Diaz Robertti of Venezuela in Semifinal in Bulgaria. He becomes the 7th Indian wrestler and 4th men wrestler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
In his 125kg Qualification bout against Kyrgyzstan's Aiaal Lazarev, Malik was trailing 1-2 till the last 25 seconds but got a push-out point towards the end and won on criteria, when the scores were tied at 2-2. His next bout was against Moldova's Alexandr Romanov.
He trailed 0-1 after losing a point on passivity. In the second period, he lost another point when he was pushed out by his opponent but as has been his strategy -- Malik attacks in the closing stage of the bout -- he pulled off a two-point throw to make it even and finally won 3-2. In the quarterfinal against Tajikistan's Rustam Iskandari, Malik was in trouble at one stage as he trailed 2-4 after leading 2-0 but logged four two-pointers to win easily.
